Canadian prison being called Guantanamo North Updated Sun. Dec. 3 2006 11:24 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff A small trailer with six cells surrounded by razor wire and fencing on the grounds of Millhaven Prison is being called Guantanamo North by human rights activists. Mahmoud Jaballah, who has been detained for more than five years without being charged, is one of three men being held in the trailer compound in the Kingston penitentiary on security certificates based on secret intelligence. Jaballah said all he wants is a fair trial. "If I go to a fair trial ... I will have freedom," he told CTV News. Jaballah arrived in Canada in 1996. He was detained in August 2001 on a second security certificate after the courts rejected the first one as unreasonable. Ottawa can use a security certificate to determine whether a foreign citizen poses a security threat. Under the certificates, the person can be held indefinitely without being charged, and without being told the reason for the detention. Jaballah's son remembers the night in 1996 when a CSIS agent visited their Toronto home. "They asked my father to become a spy for them and to work for the secret service," said Ahmad Jaballah, "and my father refused because it doesn't take a genius to realize that spying on your neighbour is wrong." CSIS denies threatening Jaballah. The intelligence agency alleges he was part of a terror organization in Egypt and met Ahmed Khadr in the 1990s. Khadr, a Canadian and close associate of Osama bin Laden, was killed in a firefight in Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001. CSIS agents say that he still poses a threat. Devout Muslims put their faith ahead of everything, even family and friends, testified a CSIS agent, identified only as J.P., when Jaballah contested a detention order that would have sent him back to his homeland of Egypt. Jaballah fought the deportation order because he fears he'll be tortured or killed if sent back. Jaballah admits he met Khadr in Toronto. "I told you I know him only because I greet him in the mosque like I greet a lot of people in the mosque," said Jaballah. Two weeks ago, members of Parliament toured the facility where Jaballah and the other three men are kept. "These men have been detained without conviction for 5 or 6 years," said NDP MP Bill Siksaynd from British Columbia. "The indefinite detention is unacceptable in Canada." But the government isn't planning to make any changes. "Our preoccupation has to be the safety and security of Canadians first and foremost," said Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day. "These people are allowed to go back to their country of origin and, if they want to stay, then they'll be detained." That leaves Jaballah and his family in limbo. A federal judge ruled last month he can't be deported to Egypt because of the risk of torture, so he remains in custody with fewer privileges than convicted inmates. He has no access to education, training or private visits with his family. Jaballah's wife and six children live in Toronto. "Life is miserable, depressing because I am very far from my kids," he said. "I miss my kids. I miss watching them as they grow." With a report by CTV News' Rosemary Thompson http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...03/north_gitmo_061203/20061203?hub=TopStories
So, of course, the implication being that it's not only the Bush Administration who are total assholes. Okay, agreed. Was there another point?
Uh, where is your outrage at the Canadians? And your sympathy and solidarity for these victims of Canadian aggre.....egregiousness? No concern over the Canadian cabalists? Is 'well the Bush administration are assholes' a complete and satisfactory response to the Padilla and Guantanamo threads? Let's see...
I think it is more of a newspiece than an editorial. But it does provide insight into the Police State Up North aka Canada.
alot of times when someone is deported, they get tortured, their families get tortured, they are kept in jail and their families are blackmailed for money, they are beat up... i wouldnt be surprised at all if it happened in egypt, ive seen it happen in india.
Most Arab states are notorious for torturing people, but Egypt and Syria -- along with Morocco -- deserve special distinction in this regard. India pales in comparison.
Really. Corruption is far move likely to be something one has to deal with there. D&D. Rubble in the Jungle.
So you’re lining up with the socialists on this one, are you Hayes? Good for you for expanding your horizons! I’m not sure what to say about this. It’s very concerning, but is there ever a time when it’s ok to detain someone living in your country who you have strong reason to believe is a terrorist and poses a threat to the country? The fact that there are only 3 of them tends to make you think that this is just a special case and that they may have good cause to detain him, but the Maher Arar case takes away a lot of confidence in the ability of our intelligence people to get it right. He’s not a Canadian citizen so deporting him would seem to be the easy solution, but apparently there is good reason to believe that he will be tortured in Egypt, and he doesn’t want to go back, so that leaves him in limbo. I wonder if we could get a third country to take him?
Do I think this is OK since its Canada? Not really. Am I worked up about it? Not overly. My understanding is that Canada doesn't have a Bill of Rights so my concerns regarding how the US government follows the US Constitution doesn't extend to Canada. I have enough concerns about what happens here and have a US Citizen have a say in what happens to my country and encourage others to do so. While I might be interested and concerned with what happens in Canada I don't have a say there.
Hayes I know others have asked this but I still haven't seen a good answer. What is your point with this thread? Is it to show that Canadians have engaged in actions that many of us Americans criticize our government for? Does that mean then we should be criticizing Canada? If that is the case then let me point out the obvious. Is it that since Canada does it then it should be OK with the US? Again let me point out the obvious. I have a hard time buying you're just posting this to spark discussion when you write: It seems to me that you are using this as some sort of counterpoint to the Padilla thread.
